Thursday, 27 September 2007

Best Swimmer (Male):Sandeep Sejwal – based on the quality of his swims. He dominated all his events – 50, 100, 200m Breaststroke – and came closer to qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics despite racing only himself.

Best Swimmer (Female): It’s a tie between Shikha Tandon and Richa Mishra. Both swam well in their respective events.

Biggest event:200m Butterfly (Men) – It was a high pressure event and Arjun Muralidharan showed that he could handle it better than the others and use it to get the best out of him. The same event also brought the best out of Aaron D’Souza; WATCH OUT for him in the coming months.

Most improvement:Rehan Poncha – he is in the best form of his life and dominated all his main events. He is still at quite a distance from the Olympic qualifying times, but definitely in the right direction.

Big Swim:Shikha Tandon – her sub-27 50m Freestyle was big, especially psychologically, as she slowly climbs towards the qualifying time. She had been stuck at this hurdle for a while. I am sure the goal of 26.32 must seem so much closer.

Tough racer:Richa Mishra – a girl of few words lets her swimming do the talking. She is one of the toughest on the block and has her sights set on Beijing.

Upcoming Swimmer:Aaron D’Souza – He finished with one gold, three silver and one bronze medal. Ironically his best swim came in the event in which he won bronze. He has shown versatility by swimming events from the 100-1500m Freestyle.Also watch out for M B Balakrishnan who won the 100m Backstroke.

Most missed:Virdhawal Khade – It was unfortunate that he had to miss the meet due to his 10th board exams that begin in a week (small price to pay for missing the exams in March and getting qualified to the 2008 Beijing Olympics). He would surely have liked to add to the fireworks in the pool.

Biggest Irony:Goa being the host state and having an amazing swim complex - containing a 50m and 25m even depth pool, a separate diving pool and a separate kids pool - had only one swimmer, Talasha Prabhu, who made it to the finals.

Rehan Poncha wrapped up the final day the way he started, with a gold medal and a new National Record in the 200m IM. He was adjudged the Best Swimmer – Male by the virtue of winning the most number of medals – four gold and one silver medal – and the most number of National Records – four.

Shikha Tandon and Richa Mishra too finished in style winning the 50m Freestyle and 200m IM. They both finished with five gold medals (and one National Record). Richa Mishra was adjudged the Best Swimmer – Female by the virtue of having more meet records.

T A Sujith won the 50m Freestyle to take the title of the Fastest Swimmer of the Championships.

The results for the day were:200m Individual Medley (Men): Rehan Poncha showed his dominance in the event by setting a new National Record and comfortably winning with a time of 2:08.80. Aditya Sangvekar finished second with a time of 2:14.76 and Akbar Ali Mir finished third with a time of 2:16.73.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 2:05.65.

200m Individual Medley (Women): Richa Mishra went on to comfortably win with a time of 2:26.38. Pooja Alva came in second with a time of 2:30.76 and Tejaswini V came in third with a time of 2:34.54.Richa holds the National Record with a time of 2:25.17 set at last year’s edition.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 2:19.97.

100m Backstroke (Men): M B Balakrishnan pulled off the biggest surprise by touching ahead of all the other favorites and winning with a time of 1:00.62. Praveen Tokas finished second with a time of 1:00.78 and Sandeep N A finished third with a time of 1:01.34. Arjun Muralidharan, who led the race till the last 5 meters, finished fourth with a time of 1:01.35.The National Record stands in the name of Rana Joy Punja with a time of 58.20 set in 1988.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 57.70.

100m Backstroke (Women): Fariha Zaman won the event comfortably with a time of 1:10.67. Kshipra Mahajan came in second with a time of 1:13.07 and Jyotsna Pansare came in third with a time of 1:14.12.The National Record stands in the name of Shikha Tandon with a time of 1:06.95 set in 2003.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 1:03.86.

50m Freestyle (Men): T A Sujith won convincingly to make it a sprint double in the Freestyle events. He clocked a time of 23.95. Earlier in the day, he clocked 23.81 in the heats. Sandeep N A finished second with a time of 24.98 and Saiju Joseph finished third with a time of 25.24.The National Record stands in the name of Sebastian Xavier with a time of 22.89 set in 1998. Virdhawal Khade swam the second fastest time clocking 23.49 at the Junior Nationals in July.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 23.13.

50m Freestyle (Women): In an event that has become synonymous with her, Shikha Tandon won comfortably with a time of 26.92 to make a clean sweep of the Sprint Freestyle events. Though her time was a bit off her personal best, it was her best time post surgery and a sure sign of getting towards the Olympic Qualifying mark. Lekha Kamath finished second with a time of 28.01 and Kshipra Mahajan finished third with a time of 28.58.Shikha holds the National Record with a time of 26.50 set in 2003.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 26.32.

I was in Goa and finally part of all the action, excitement and drama. The weather did make its presence felt with it either being sweltering hot or pouring cats and dogs.

The 200m Butterfly was touted to be deciding race for the title of Best swimmer – Male, which was being hotly contested by Rehan Poncha and Arjun Muralidharan, and kept as the last event of the day. Arjun went into the lead from the beginning and never let Rehan come close to him. Arjun finished with a new National Record and made a clean sweep of the Butterfly events. But earlier in the evening, Arjun came in second in the 50m Backstroke, thereby reducing the pressure on Rehan.

Richa went on to win two gold medals and break the National record in the 1500m Freestyle.

The results for the day were:1500m Freestyle (Men): The duel for the best long distance swimmer continued between Aaron D’Souza and Rohit Havaldar, with the latter going on to make it a double by winning with a time of 16:51.18. Aaron D’Souza finished second with a time of 16:58.90 and Merwyn Chen finished third with a time of 17:05.15.The National Record stands in the name of Mandar Divase with a time of 16:17.58 set at the 2006 SAF Games in Colombo. Mandar did not participate due to an injury.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 15:45.12.

1500m Freestyle (Women): Richa Mishra showed her class by creating a new National Record with a time of 18:00.64. Aarti Ghorpade came in second almost 50seconds later with a time of 18:50.53 and Archana Gupta came in third with a time of 18:59.71.This is not an Olympic event for women, though it is an event at the World Swimming Championships.

50m Backstroke (Men): This was the closest race of the competition with only 0.12 of a second separating the top three swimmers. Sandeep N A pipped National Record holder Arjun Muralidharan to second place with a time of 28.39, Arjun finished with a time of 28.49 and M B Balakrishnan finished third with a time of 28.51. M H Balakrishnan, who is new to the big league, wore a swim suit that was a big for him i.e. it was loose, and was definitely a factor that changed a potential gold to bronze.The National Record stands in the name of Arjun Muralidharan with a time of 27.63 set at last year’s edition.This is not an Olympic event, though it is an event at the World Swimming Championships.

50m Backstroke (Women): Shikha Tandon recovered quickly from a mediocre start to dominate the race and win comfortably with a time of 31.48. She narrowly missed out on bettering her own National Record and this resulted in Richa Mishra winning the title of Best Swimmer – Female*. Fariha Zaman came in second with a time of 32.80 and Amreen Malik came in third with a time of 34.37.Shikha holds the National Record with a time of 31.32 set in 2003.This is not an Olympic event, though it is an event at the World Swimming Championships.

50m Breaststroke (Men): Sandeep Sejwal completed the formality of making it a clean sweep of the Breaststroke events by comfortably winning with a time of 29.45. Arjun J P came in second with a time of 31.47 and S P Lenka came in third with a time of 31.83. Earlier in the day, Sandeep clocked 29.40 in the heats.Sandeep also holds the National Record with a time of 29.36 set at the Asian Age-Group Swimming Championships last month.This is not an Olympic event, though it is an event at the World Swimming Championships.

50m Breaststroke (Women): Lekha Kamath denied Tejaswini V a clean sweep of the Breaststroke events. Lekha finished first with a time of 36.57, Poorva Shetye finshed second with a time of 37.23 while Tejaswini finished third with a time of 37.91.The National Record stands in the name of Saba Sait with a time of 35.63 set in 2004.This is not an Olympic event, though it is an event at the World Swimming Championships.

200m Butterfly (Men): Arjun Muralidharan went on to make a clean sweep of the Butterfly events by winning the event with a personal best time of 2:03.05, and inching closer to making the Olympic qualifying mark. He led the race from start to finish. Rehan finished second with a time of 2:05.20 and Aaron finished third with a personal best time of 2:05.78. Aaron’s time is extremely creditable considering that he is only 15 and has a long way to go. His time would slot him as the 4th fastest 15 yr old in USA and 13th overall in the 15-16yr category (Click here for more info) .The National Record stands in the name of Khazan Singh Tokas with a time of 2:02.38 set in the 1986. This is now the oldest standing record.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 2:01.79.

200m Butterfly (Women): Richa Mishra went on to lead the race from start to finish and win comfortably with a time of 2:20.80. Pooja Alva came in second with a time of 2:24.36 and Madhavi Giri came in third with a time of 2:37.10.Richa holds the National Record with a time of 2:18.66 set at the Asian Age-Group Swimming Championships last month.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 2:15.42.

* Though Shikha and Richa won five gold medals each, Richa finished with one more meet record.

Wednesday, 26 September 2007

Rehan and Sandeep continued to dominate and set new National Records in the 400m Freestyle and 200m Breaststroke respectively. Sandeep narrowly missed the Olympic qualifying mark and I hope somebody would take into account that he practically had to swim the whole race alone with the next swimmer finishing the race a little over 12 seconds later. This was probably the biggest ever margin of victory in a 200m event at any Senior Nationals. It would be terribly unfair if he misses the plane to Beijing because of this.

The results for the day were:400m Freestyle (Men): Rehan Poncha won the event with a new National Record of 4:04.49. This was Rehan’s third win with a National Record in as many days. Rohit Havaldar came in second with a time of 4:09.92 and Arun Kumar came in third with a time of 4:15.29.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 3:58.10.

400m Freestyle (Women): Kshipra Mahajan won the gold with a time of 4:40.40. Teammate Pooja Alva came in second with a time of 4:42.10 and Aarti Ghorpade came in third with a time of 4:44.61.The National Record stands in the name of Nisha Millet with a time of 4:29.72 set in 1999.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 4:20.50.

200m Breaststroke (Men): Sandeep Sejwal made it a double, after winning the 100m Breaststroke on day 1, and got closer to the Olympic qualifying mark by winning the event with a new National Record time of 2:19.51. I am sure that he would have got the qualifying time had he had someone to push him for even a part of the race. S P Lenka came in second with a time of 2:31.63 and V Abhishek came in third with a time of 2:33.92.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 2:18.37.

200m Breaststroke (Women): Tejasvini V also made it a double by winning with the event with a time of 2:50.62. Prerna Jain came in second with a time of 2:52.92 and M S Divya came in third with a time of 2:54.03.The National record stands in the name of Sajini Shetty with a time of 2:46.39 set in 1997.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 2:33.40.

100m Butterfly (Men): Arjun Muralidharan went on to win with a time of 56.19. Akbar Ali Mir came in second with a time of 58.81 and D Siddanth came in third with a time of 58.93.The National record stands in the name of Ankur Poseria with a time of 55.00 set at the USA Swimming National Championships in July this year. Arjun’s personal best is 56.16 clocked at the 2006 Doha Asian Games.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 54.71.

100m Butterfly (Women): With the National record holder, Richa Mishra, not choosing this event among her five it made it easy for Pooja Alva to win with a time of 1:05.86. In what seems to have been a closely contested race, Lekha Kamath came in second with a time of 1:06.06 and Shubha C came in third with a time of 1:06.66.The National record stands in the name of Richa Mishra with a time of 1:04.45 set at the Asian Age-Group Swimming Competition held last month.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 1:01.43.

Friday, 21 September 2007

After setting the ball rolling in the 200m Backstroke on the first day, Rehan went on to better his own National record in the 400m IM which he set last month at the Asian Age-Group Swimming Championships. Shikha showed her class by winning two events that are not her forte, 50m Butterfly and 200m Freestyle.

The results for the day were:200m Freestyle (Men): Aaron D’Souza converted the silver he won in the 100m Freestyle to gold. He won with a time of 1:57.07. Ashwin Menon came in second with a time of 1:58.72 and Amar Muralidharan came in third with a time of 2:00.49.The National record stands in the name of Virdhawal Khade with a time of 1:52.41 set at the 2007 Melbourne World Swimming Championships. Virdhawal qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics in this event.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 1:52.53.

200m Freestyle (Women): Shikha Tandon went on to win this event with a time of 2:11.90. This was one of her fill-in events towards winning the Best swimmer* - Female title, a title she won in 2005 (she missed it last year as she did not participate due to her shoulder surgery). With the 100m and 200m titles in her kitty, she seems all set to make a clean sweep of the sprint freestyle events. Teammate Kshipra Mahajan came in second with a time of 2:13.33 and Shubha C came in third with a time of 2:13.74.The National record stands in the name of Nisha Millet with a time of 2:06.81 set at the Australian Age-Group meet in 2000. Nisha qualified for the 2000 Sydney Olympics in this event.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 2:03.47.

50m Butterfly (Men): Arjun Muralidharan fired his opening salvo at the Championships by winning with a time of 25:76. He was followed by K. Rajiv with a time of 26.28 and Akbar Ali Mir finished third with a time of 26.67.The National record stands in the name of Ankur Poseria with a time of 25.13 set at the 2007 Melbourne World Swimming Championships. Virdhawal Khade clocked 25.28 at the same meet.This is not an Olympic event, though it is an event at the World Swimming Championships.

50m Butterfly (Women): Shikha Tandon came up on tops in the second of her fill-in events with a time of 29.41. In the process she also created a new National record, adding to the long list of National records that are in her name. This was an upset as she beat the favorite - Lekha Kamath by a hairs breadth; Lekha came in second with a time of 29.46. Shubha C, who held the National record, came in third with a time of 29.98. Shikha now leads the medal table with 3 gold medals.This is not an Olympic event, though it is an event at the World Swimming Championships.

400 Individual Medley (Men): Rehan Poncha has had a stranglehold on this event for years and has kept bettering the National record. He won this event with a new National record, clocking a time of 4:33.59. He improved upon his time set at last month’s Asian Age-Group Swimming Championships. Aditya Sangavekar came in second with a time of 4:44.72 and V Abhishek came in third with a time of 4:47.32.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 4:27.44.

400 Individual Medley (Women): Richa Mishra went on to win with a time of 5:04.84. This was her second gold and she too is on track for the title of Best swimmer-Female. Pooja Alva came in second with a time of 5:18.56 and Madhavi Giri came in third with a time of 5:38.48.Richa Mishra holds the National record with a time of 5:01.08 set at the Asian Age-Group Swimming Championships last month.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 4:55.60.

I am heading to Goa to be part of the action. It has been really difficult sitting here and reporting all the excitement. Hence there might be a brief interruption in updates, kindly bear with it.

Note: National Record refers to the Best Indian Performance done anywhere in the world and not the Meet record.

* Each swimmer is allowed to swim a maximum of 5 individual events. The Best Swimmer, male and female, is based on the number of gold medals won and the number of records broken.

Thursday, 20 September 2007

As expected, Rehan Poncha opened the meet with a bang. His 200m Backstroke time of 2:08.15 beat Wilson Cherian’s record of 2:08.74 set in 1986. This was one of the oldest records in Indian men’s swimming. The only other record of that time that still stands is that of Khazan Singh Tokas* in the 200m Butterfly.

The results of the day were:100m Freestyle (Men): T. A. Sujith representing the Services won the 100m Freestyle with a time of 53.47. Age does not seem to bother Sujith as he keeps getting faster. He is really quick for his height, around 5ft. 7in. Aaron D’souza came in second with a time of 53.79. This is a really good time considering his age, 15yrs. Aman Muralidharan came in third with a time of 54.41. Sujith would be looking forward to his favorite event, 50m Freestyle, to make it a sprint double.The National Record stands in the name of Virdhawal Khade with a time of 51.41 set at the Junior Nationals in July this year.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 50.95.

100m Freestyle (Women): No surprises in this event as Shikha swam her way to victory with a time of 59.04sec. Looks like there was absolutely no one to push her as Lekha Kamath came in second after a little over two seconds, with a time of 1.01.19. Shubha C came in third with a time of 1.01.51. Shikha looks all set to make it a sprint double with the 50m Freestyle on the last day.Shikha holds the National record in this event with a time of 58.32 set in 2003. She qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics in this event.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 57.17.

800m Freestyle (Men): Teammates Rohit Havaldar and Aaron D’Souza dominated the event with the latter settling for silver. Though Rohit won with a personal best time of 8:33.74, he just fell short of regaining the National record he lost to Aaron. Aaron came in second with a time of 8:35.89 and Merwyn Chen came in third with a time of 8:52.05.Aaron D’Souza holds the National record with a time of 8:33.37 set at the Asian Age-Group Swimming Championships last month.This is not an Olympic event for men, though it is an event at the World Swimming Championships.

800m Freestyle (Women): Richa Mishra won comfortably with a time of 9:25.57. This would have been a good warm up for her main events. Sushaka Pratap came in second with a time of 9:36.10 and Aarti Ghorpade came in third with a time of 9:46.25.The National record is held by Shikha Tandon with a time of 9:20.56 which she set at the 2000 Pusan Asian Swimming Championship.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 8:54.40.

100m Breaststroke (Men): Sandeep Sejwal is inching ever so nearer to the Olympic qualifying mark. He swam 1:04 twice in one day which is remarkable in itself. He won the event with a new National record clocking 1:04.36, just 0.64sec. slower than the qualifying time. He might have made the cut had he had someone to push him. He showed his class by beating his closest opposition by more than five seconds; one of the biggest winning margins for this event. Deepak Kumar Singh came in second with a time of 1:09.53 and Shyam Singh came in third with a time of 1:09.78..The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 1:03.72.

100m Breaststroke (Women): Tejasvini V won this event with a time of 1:21.04. Teammate Prerna Jain came in second with a time of 1:22.13 and Poorva Shetty came in third with a time of 1:22.69.The National record is held by Sajini Shetty with a time of 1:17.35 set in 1997.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 1: 11.43.

200m Backstroke (Men): Rehan finished on top with a new National record clocking 2:08.15. Praveen Tokas came in second with a time of 2:10.48 and Rohit Havaldar came in third with a time of 2:16.67. Look out for Rehan in the 200, 400m Individual Medley and 200m Butterfly (this would be interesting with Arjun Muralidharan in the fray).The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 2:03.91.

200m Backstroke (Women): Fariha Zaman won with a time of 2:33.83. Madhavi Giri came in second with a time of 2:35.45 and Aarti Ghorpade came in third with a time of 2:35.89.The National Record is held by Shikha Tandon with a time of 2:26.66 set in 2005.The Olympic qualifying time for this event is 2:17.38.

This was just day one, lots more action in the days to come.

* Khazan Singh Tokas is the only Indian swimmer to have won a medal at the Asian Games. He won the silver in the 200m Butterfly at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games.

Tuesday, 18 September 2007

The biggest event on the Indian swimming calendar – Senior National Swimming Championship – begins tomorrow at Panaji, Goa. The next five days are going to be filled some great action. To make things more exciting, FINA* has considered this year’s national championships to be a Qualifying meet for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This is going to be a great opportunity for all those who are really close to making the cut. This is the first time, in my personal experience, that there are so many contenders close to the qualifying time. It must be kept in mind that the qualifying times for the 2008 Beijing Olympics have been made significantly faster than earlier Olympics. Click here for the 2008 Olympic qualifying procedures.

Some of the swimmers to look out for:

SandeepSejwal (Breaststroke) – he is in great form and is within striking distance from the Olympic qualifying mark in the 100 and 200m Breaststroke. He won one gold and two silver medals – 50m Breaststroke (Silver), 100m Breaststroke (Gold with Record) and 200m Breaststroke (Silver) – at last month’s Asian Age-Group Swimming Championship at Jakarta, Indonesia. In the process he also bettered the National record (aka Best Indian Performance) in all the three events.

RehanPoncha (Butterfly, Backstroke, Individual medley) – he too is in good form as he created National Records in the 200 and 400m IM at the Asian Age-Group Swimming Championships.

ArjunMuralidharan (Butterfly, Backstroke) – Last year’s individual champion who would be keen on retaining the title this year too.

RohitHavaldar andAaron D’Souza (Long distance Freestyle) – These two are continuously pushing the barriers of long distance freestyle. Aaron despite being the younger one, 15yrs old, showed that he cannot be counted out by setting a National record and winning the gold in the 800m Freestyle at the Asian Age-Group Swimming Championships.

PraveenTokas and Sandeep N. A. (Backstroke) – These two backstroke specialists will be joined by Rehan and Arjun to make all the backstroke races extremely exciting.

ShikhaTandon (Sprint Freestyle) – she is the closest, amongst the girls, to making the Olympic qualifying mark. She is making a comeback after a shoulder surgery last year and has been steadily getting stronger and faster. If she does make the qualifying mark, she would become the first Indian swimmer to participate at two Olympics.

RichaMishra (Butterfly, Individual Medley) – she is the best form of her life. At the Asian Age-Group Swimming Championships she created National Records in 100, 200m Butterfly and 400 IM. She would be looking forward to keeping the Individual champion title with her for one more year.

VirdhawalKhade’s absence is going to keep the sprint Freestyle category open. Virdhawal is the only swimmer to have so far qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He achieved the qualifying time in the 200m Freestyle, clocking 1:52.41, at the 2007 World Swimming Championships at Melbourne, Australia in March this year. He is busy preparing for his 10th board exams which begin on October 4th. He missed his exams earlier this year as he chose to participate at the World Swimming Championships.

AnkurPoseria (Sprint Freestyle and Butterfly) is another swimmer who will be missing in action. He studies and trains at University of Southern California, USA. He is within striking distance from making the Olympic qualifying mark in the 100m Butterfly. His recent time of 55.00sec at the USA Swimming National Championships leaves him 0.29sec off the qualifying mark.

* FINA (Fédération Internationale deNatation) – founded in 1908, it is the international governing body for Aquatic sports – which include swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo and open water swimming. It is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. The current President is MustaphaLarfaoui from Algeria.

Hakim represented India in swimming at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He is one of only three Indian male swimmers who have represented India at the Olympics since 1956 (the other two being – Khazan Singh Tokas at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and Sebastian Xavier at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics). He first swam for the Indian Senior team at the 1993 Dhaka SAF Games when he was just 14 (making him the youngest participant at the Games). Hakim was the National Champion in the 200m Freestyle for 4 consecutive years (1996-1999; even though he was the fastest in the year 2000 he did not swim the Senior Nationals due to personal reasons) and held the National Record (aka Best Indian Performance) and the SAF Games Record in this event for 6 and 7 years respectively. He has received numerous awards for his achievements in the pool. He completed his Electrical and Electronics Engineering from B.M.S. College of Engineering, Bangalore and worked with Tata Consultancy Services Limited for close to 5 years.

He is the co-founder and Director of GoSports India Pvt. Ltd. (http://www.gosports.in), a career management and consulting company headquartered in Bangalore, India. GoSports India works closely with the country's most talented sportspersons on translating their potential into performance.